The wisdom of Princess Michael of Kent

Today is the 69th birthday of Her Royal Highness Princess Michael of Kent. Over the years, Princess Michael (whose real name is Marie-Christine) has become the subject of fascination to many for some of the most baffling, intriguing and humorous quotes from a member of the Royal Family.

In honour of Her Royal Highness, we have compiled a list of our top 10 quotes from the person the media nickname Princess Pushy. If you have any others, please feel free to contribute in the comments section at the bottom of the page.

On her lineage and her ancestors,“Sometimes people say, “Oh well, we all descend from Adam and Eve.” But do you descend from Charlemagne directly? Do you descend from Saint King Louis IX?.. I do.”.

On planning for the future to her husband Prince Michael,
“If you died first, I have to think about whether I’d stay here or go back to Austria.” I’m allowed to stay here – if I pay the rent!’.

On cutting back and austerity,“I am in very austere economic times too, thank you very much. We’ve cut back dramatically. I mean, we never go out to dinner unless we go to somebody’s house. We never go to restaurants. That’s too extravagant. We invite people here. I cook. Well, if I’m giving a dinner party I get in help.”.

On the changes at Wimbledon,
“It’s all changed now at Wimbledon. There’s just one big loo for the whole Royal Box. I don’t think we’re treated differently.”.

On family and breeding,
“The English take the breeding of their horses and dogs more seriously than they do their children. God forbid that the wrong drop of blood should get into their labrador. But their children marry everywhere.”.

On her cat’s behaviour,
“[Ruby] is divine, but I always tell her – ‘If you are bad you will be a hat one day!'”.

On the name of her new granddaughter [Maud],
“Freddie loves the name, and so do lots of other people. But I don’t. I will get used to it; you get used to everything.”.

On the meaning of her life,“If I were asked what is the objective of my life… I would say it was to improve the quality of my life, intellectually, culturally and in the way I choose to live.”